Safeguarding the invisible
Over recent decades, the concept of cultural heritage has undergone a profound transformation at the social, anthropological and legal level, progressively expanding the scope of its protection. From a notion originally limited to tangible assets, the international community has moved towards the normative recognition of non-objectifiable forms of heritage: living practices, knowledge and cultural expressions.
This conceptual expansion finds its formal legal expression in Article 2 of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Living heritageIntangible heritage is constantly recreated by communities in response to their environment and history.
Community ownershipHeritage primarily belongs to the communities that practise, recognise and transmit it.
ContinuitySafeguarding must ensure vitality and transmission without freezing cultural practices.
Current challenges
Armed conflicts, climate change, desertification and natural disasters pose unprecedented threats to intangible cultural heritage worldwide, including practices registered on UNESCO lists. These crises may destroy social cohesion, community practices and cultural identity.
At the same time, cultural globalisation and economic pressure can generate homogenisation, decontextualisation and the loss of cultural diversity. Unlike tangible cultural heritage, intangible heritage still lacks specific legal instruments for protection in situations of armed conflict comparable to those provided for material cultural property under the 1954 Hague Convention and its Protocols.
The conference
The International Conference "Intangible Heritage Horizons and Echoes: Safeguarding the Invisible" aims to combine academic discourse and actionable policy responses through comparative analysis of normative models and the identification of best practices.
Heritage International Institute, the University of Parma and Sciences Po invite scholars, practitioners and policymakers to a systematic exploration of intangible cultural heritage through the lenses of law, anthropology, sociology and technology.
Digital heritage and the Virtual Museum
Advanced digitisation, intelligent archives and artificial intelligence offer unprecedented opportunities to document, transmit and preserve cultural practices. Their use also raises significant legal and ethical issues concerning ownership of cultural data, control over digitisation processes, cybersecurity and the risk of appropriation or decontextualisation of traditional knowledge.
In the belief that digital language can be a fundamental tool for promoting the importance of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, Heritage International Institute developed the Virtual Museum on Cultural Heritage, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and recognised by the United Nations. The conference will be an opportunity to extend the Virtual Museum to intangible cultural heritage and involve participants in its development.
Scientific Committee
Ahmed Aubais AlfatlawiHeritage International Institute Academic Board; Full Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Kufa; specialist in international humanitarian law.
Linda BoreanArt historian; Full Professor of History of Art, University of Udine; Director of the Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage.
Federica BuriniProfessor of Geography, University of Bergamo; expert in sustainable territorial development.
Cristiana CarlettiChief of HII Department for Heritage and Development Cooperation; Professor of International Public Law, Roma Tre University.
Fulvia CarusoAssociate Professor, University of Pavia; expert in musical intangible heritage; Secretary General of ESEM.
Yumei ChiAssociate Researcher at LUHCIE, Université Grenoble Alpes; expert in intercultural exchange.
Khalid Khudair DahhamProfessor and Vice Dean, El Alamein Institute for Higher Education, Iraq.
Hani El DebuchPhD candidate, University of Bologna; Director of the Syrian Special Task Force at Heritage International Institute.
Carla FerrarioProfessor of Economic and Political Geography, University of Piemonte Orientale.
Elisabetta Fiocchi MalaspinaProfessor of Legal History, University of Zurich Faculty of Law; Fellow at Collegium Helveticum.
Valentina GastaldoProfessor of Administrative Law, University of Parma; Chief of HII Department for Heritage and Informatics Affairs, New Technologies and Artificial Intelligence.
Vincenzo GrassiAmbassador of Italy; Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations in Geneva from 2023 to January 2026.
Laura GuercioChief of HII Unit for Heritage and Human Rights; Professor at Link Campus University; Secretary General of the Universities Network for Children in Armed Conflict.
Ignas KalpokasAssociate Professor at Vytautas Magnus University and the American University in Bulgaria.
Julija KalpokienėPractising lawyer; Associate Professor and Researcher at Vytautas Magnus University; Postdoctoral Researcher at Vilnius University.
Ahmed F. KhalifaHeritage International Institute Academic Board; Assistant Professor of International Criminal Law, Ain Shams Law School; consultant with the ICRC Legal Department, MENA region.
Rana KharoufHeritage International Institute Academic Board; Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs; judge assessor at the French National Court of Asylum.
Tina ManandharHII Coordinator for Nepal; Assistant Professor, Central Department of Nepalese History, Culture and Archaeology, Tribhuvan University.
Gianluigi Mastandrea BonaviriProfessor of International and European Diplomatic and Consular Law, University of Bologna; First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in Geneva.
Maria Raffaella Mastandrea BonaviriMember of HII Department of Heritage and Informatics Affairs, New Technologies and Artificial Intelligence; Master in Cybersecurity and Public Policy and Management.
Daniela PittalugaProfessor of Architectural Restoration, University of Genoa; RIPAM Secretary General for Mediterranean Countries.
Frédéric RamelFull Professor in Political Science at Sciences Po Paris, CERI, GRAM, CNRS.
Mirosław M. SadowskiHeritage International Institute Academic Board; Doctor of Civil Law; Lecturer, School of Law, University of Strathclyde.
